Guiding gib for lower edge of elevator doors



0a. 8, 1940. H. v. McCORMlCK 2,217,489

GUIDING GIB FOR LOWER EDGE OF ELEVATOR DOORS Filed April 25, 1939 INVENTOR BY WW ATTO E Y Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNIT-ED STATES PATENT GUIDING GIB FOR LOWER EDGE OF ELEVATOR DOORS Harold v. McCormick, Westfield, N. J., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Elevator Company, Jersey City, N. J a corporation of Illinois Application April 25, 1939, Serial No. 269,905

4 Claims. (01. 16-93) My invention relate to guides for doors and more particularly to means for guiding the bottom portions of horizontal sliding doors for elevator cars and elevator floor landings.

In many elevator installations horizontal sliding doors are used on the cars and also atthe floor landings. A door of this type is usually supported by hangers having their lower ends secured to the top of the door and their upper ends provided with small wheels or rollers which ride on a track rail mounted above the door so that the door slides easily into and out of its closed position. It is necessary to provide these sliding doors with some means for guiding and maintaining their lower portions in line with the doorway opening and for preventing them.from

swinging out of their vertical position.

Usually the bottom guiding means has heretofore included a plurality of pins, rollers or springs adjusted on the bottom edge of the door in position to travel in a cooperating upwardly opening channel member embodied in the doorway sill. However, where such devices have been made to fit neatly they usually cause a scratching noise when the door is operated, and where they have been made to fit loosely they permit the door to rattle even when not being opened or closed. Furthermore, even where they are made to fit neatly, they usually wear to such an extent in a short time theypermit the door to move in and out under the efiectof windage from the passing elevator cars and thereby cause the doors to rattle.

Hence, it is an object of my invention to provide a door guide or gib which will operate quietly without making a scratching noise and which will not, after it becomes worn, permit the door to rattle.

Another object is to provide a door guiding means which shall be practically unaffected by grease, oil, or wear.

. Another object is to greatly reduce or eliminate the running friction of the doors operating along their guides.

A further object is to provide a door guiding means which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, installed, and maintained in operation.

For a better understanding of the invention,

reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a horizontally slidable elevator door provided with a bottom guiding means constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of the door and guide illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in side elevation of one of the bottom guides illustrated on the door in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in end elevation of the guide illustrated in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, sectional view, taken along the line V-V of Fig. 3, of the block in the guide in accordance with the Patent Ofiice chart ii for textile material and rubber. I

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

I have illustrated a horizontally slidable door I!) suspended from a track rail M by a means of a plurality of hangers it. The door may be con- 10 structed in any suitable manner as by providing a frame M and a panel l5 disposed in the center thereof.

Each of the hangers l3 comprises a vertical sheet of metal 55 having a bent over portion l1 15 (Fig. 2) which houses an upper roller l8 disposed to ride upon the upper edge of the track rail H, and a lower roller I841 disposed to engage the underside of the rail. The lower end of each of the hangers is attached to the upper edge of 20 the door by means of a pair of adjustable bolts 19 which extend downwardly into the frame Hi. The door may be moved along the track rail ll into its closed or open position either by hand or by any suitable door operating mechanism 25 (not shown).

In order to guide the lower portion of the door silently along its path and prevent it from rattling at any time, I have provided a novel guid ing means 2| for leading the bottom portion of 30 the door along an upwardly opening channel member 22 embedded in the doorway sill 25].

The guiding means comprises a bracket 23 mounted on the lower edge of the door and a gib 2! secured tothe bracket in position to extend 5 into and slide along the channel 22. The bracket 23 is constructed with an L-like shape in cross section so that its upper portion may extend upwardly along the side of the door Hi to which it may be fastened by a plurality of screws 25 40 and 26. The lower end of the bracket is bent substantially atright angles to its upper arm to extend under the edge of the door and make a close fit therewith.

The gib 2| comprises a block 30 .of layers of 45 bonded textile material held under compression between an upper metal plate 3! and a lower metallplate 32 by means of a plurality of' rivets 33 which pass through the plates and the block of textile material. The gib is mounted on the under side of the arm 28 of the bracket in position to extend into the channel 22 by means of a plurality of screws 3d which extend through the arm 28 and into screw-threaded recesses in the upper metal plate 3 l. 1

The textile block 36 comprises a plurality of horizontal layers of textile material such as canvas duck sheets 35 and 3B compressed and bonded together with a resilient material, preferably of artificial rubber 31 such as is sold under the term on neoprene. The block is prepared by coating or otherwise applying the artificial rubber material to the faces of the sheets and then compressing and heating the block to cause the artificial rubber to become vulcanized and thus make the sheets and rubber into a compact but resilient block of textile fibers and resilient material. By this treatment the bonding material works thoroughly into the crevices between the threads and along the outside edges of the block so that the edges of the block present a face of textile fiber impregnated or coated with the vulcanized artificial rubber as a wearing surface to engage the side walls of the channel (see Fig. 5).

The horizontal dimensions of the block 30 are made slightly larger than the plates 3| and 32 and sufficiently large to fit into the threshold groove or channel member 22 with approximately e 5" side clearance when new. This clearance permits the gib to move freely along the channel when the door is opened or closed. However, inasmuch as the bonderized edges of the sheets present a tough but resilient surface towards the guiding sides of the channel, it will not cause any scratching noise or in fact any noise at all when the door is guided along the channel, nor will it cause a rattling noise if the door sways sideways under the influence of air currents in the hatchway. It has also been found that when the gib becomes so worn that excessive side clearance develops between it and the side walls of the threshold groove, the impacts of the gib against the sides of the groove when the door is operated produce no noise because of the resilient surface presented by the edges of the canvas layers and the resilient material with which they are bonded.

The tests and the use of these gibs made so far indicate that they have a very long life and that they seldom need to be renewed. However, in case it is necessary to renew one or more of the gibs, it may be done easily by taking out the screws 25 and 26, removing the bracket from the door, unscrewing the screws 34, and then replacing the gib 2| mounted thereon with a new gib.

It will be obvious that any suitable textile material may be used instead of the layers of canvas duck sheets and also that any suitable bonding material may be used which will retain its resiliency and not be affected to any considerable extent by the dirt, oil, and grease usually associated with the operation of gibs in threshold grooves or channels.

By the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a novel, inexpensive door gib for elevator doors which may be subject to wear but which will not, when first installed or when worn, cause any scratching noise when the door is operated or any rattling noise when windage from the operation of the elevator car causes the door to sway sideways.

Although I have illustrated only one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that changes therein and modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A guide for a horizontally sliding door supported by hangers from a rail above the door for an elevator doorway having a groove in its door sill, said guide comprising a bracket secured to the lower end of the door and a gib secured to said bracket in position to extend into the groove, said gib comprising an approximately rectangular block of a plurality of layers of canvas duck sheets bonded together with vulcanized artificial rubber, a metal plate of smaller dimensions than the sheets disposed on the upper face of the block, a metal plate of smaller dimensions than the sheets disposed on the under face of the block and a plurality of rivets passing through the plates and the block to hold them together, said block being large enough to fit in the groove with approximately one thirty-second inch play and having the vulcanized edges of its sheets disposed toward the side walls of the groove for noiselessly guiding and limiting the movement of the door.

2. A guide for a horizontally sliding door supported by hangers from a rail above the door for an elevator doorway having a groove in its door sill, said guide comprising a bracket secured to the lower end of the door and a gib secured to said bracket in position to extend into the groove said gib comprising an approximately rectangular block of a plurality of canvas sheets bonded with vulcanized artificial rubber and plates of smaller dimensions than the sheets disposed on the lower and the upper surfaces thereof for stifiening and supporting the block, said block being large enough to fit in the groove with little play and having the rubber filmed edges of its sheets disposed toward the side walls of the groove for noiselessly guiding the longitudinal movement and limiting the side movement of the door.

3. A guide for a horizontally sliding door supported by hangers from a rail above the door for an elevator doorway having a groove in its door sill, said guide comprising a bracket secured to the lower end of the door and a gib secured to said bracket in position to extend into the groove, said gib comprising an approximately rectangular block of a plurality of sheets of textile material bonded with resilient material, plates of smaller dimensions than the sheets disposed on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, and rivets passing through the plates and sheets to hold them in compression, the block having transverse dimensions sufficiently large to fit the groove with little play and having its edges of its sheets presented to the side walls of the groove for noiselessly guiding the lower portion of the door along the groove.

4. A guide for a horizontally sliding door supported by hangers from a rail above the door for an elevator doorway having a groove in its door sill, said guide comprising a bracket to be secured to the lower end of the door and a gib secured to said bracket in position to extend into the groove, said gib comprising an approximately rectangular block of a plurality of sheets of textile material bonded with resilient material, the width of the sheets being slightly less than the width of the groove, a plate of smaller dimension than the sheets disposed on the lower surface of the block, and means for securing the plate to the under surface of the bracket with the bonded sheets clamped in horizontal position between the plate and the bracket andwith their edges directed toward the side walls of the groove whereby the edges of the sheets may engage the side walls of the groove and noiselessly guide the door along the groove.

HAROLD V. MCCORMICK. 

